Company turns scrap wood into fuel

In a world gone "green," a new company in Tazewell County is taking the eco-friendly concept one step further with grind.

Kevin Sampier

In a world gone "green," a new company in Tazewell County is taking the eco-friendly concept one step further with grind.

Midwest Bio Fuels Inc. is accepting wooden pallets, shipping crates, used lumber, sawdust and other wooden materials from businesses to grind down and turn into fuel.

"It's a pretty new project," said company President Garrett Schamberger, who recently started the business on VFW Road in rural Tazewell County. "Everybody that's involved with it is excited about it."

The concept began for Schamberger when he noticed the amount of wood products sent to the landfill by industrial businesses.

"There's all this wood in the area that's going to the landfill that we could get energy with," he said.

And so the idea for Midwest Bio Fuels Inc. was born.

Schamberger bought 7 1/2 acres of land and a building in April to house the business and will partner with companies including Caterpillar Inc. to take in wood waste.

The company will grind the wood products and compress them into pellets that can be used to heat homes and into larger "pucks" that will be used in the coal-fired furnaces of big businesses.

"It's a coal replacement," he said.

Company Secretary and Treasurer Richard Thomas said there is plenty of wood to go around.

Thomas said the Caterpillar plants in Decatur, East Peoria and Mossville generate about 991 tons of scrap wood annually.

"It's a lot of wood," Thomas said.

The company will also sell wood mulch for fuel and landscaping.

Companies that give their wood waste benefit by avoiding landfill fees and could be eligible for tax incentives, Schamberger said.

"It's a win-win for everybody."

The company will request a zoning change from Tazewell County next month that will allow its operation to expand.

Wood at various stages in the process and heavy equipment is already at the site.

"We're sitting here ready to bust out at any time," Thomas said. "We're hoping to have between 30 and 40 jobs in three years."

Schamberger said the idea is unique in the central Illinois area, but it's been used for quite some time overseas.

"In Europe, they've been doing this technology for 40 years," he said. "The United States is 40 years behind the rest of the world. It's a new concept here."

Kevin Sampier can be reached at (309) 346-5300 or ksampier@pjstar.com.

At a glance
What: Midwest Bio Fuels Inc. accepts wood waste from companies and turns it into pellets for heating homes and businesses.